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Turns out, the UFC already sued the shit out of some fans for Pirating PPVs

Yesterday we talked about the UFC shutting down a website that was illegally streaming live PPVs and broadcasting them for free. The UFC also said they would be seeking out the actual fans who watched the streams without paying. That threat was met with lots of eye rolling. Everyone asked, how can they possibly know who watched illegally? Well, it appears they’ve already done it.

Bloody Elbow has an interesting piece this morning that shows that the UFC has already sued the shit out of at least one fan (damn, can you imagine how stupid you’d feel if you were the ONLY one?) for watching illegal streams of events. And it wasn’t just a slap on the wrist either.

Here’s the breakdown for this unlucky dude…$2000 in statutory damages (that’s $1000 per event), $4000 in enhanced damages, and $5948 in attorney’s fees and other expenses. That’s about 12 grand! And they only caught him watching 2 events! More than likely, he watched every PPV that way.

The article explains that this particular case was from 2013 and there were likely many more fans nabbed with similar penalties. That’s freaking stiff.

As I said yesterday, I’m gonna go ahead and drive the 3 miles to the closest Buffalo Wild Wings; persevere through all the bedazzled TapouT shirts and fat dudes claiming to have “rolled with a Gracie;” and just bite the bullet on a $30 tab for wings and a few drinks. Call me paranoid, but I’m okay with that.